


Falling Out

by Jbee



Series: Gates of Askr: Year One [31]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25559152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jbee/pseuds/Jbee
Summary: Kiran struggles to accept her role and her future in the Order of Heroes.
Relationships: Alfonse/Summoner | Eclat | Kiran
Series: Gates of Askr: Year One [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703545
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Falling Out

**Author's Note:**

> This series is a collection of short stories driven by the FEH Subreddit Weekly Writing Prompts, July 27, 2020. "Kiran stumbles upon a report Anna didn't file and the contents are shocking."

Tapping the end of her quill, Kiran stared at Soren. She wondered what the mage was thinking about while he intently worked on his report across the desk from her. Sighing loudly, she caused the candles in their makeshift headquarters to flicker around them. Soren raised an eyebrow without looking up, an indication that he knew she was watching him and that she should stop. Kiran quickly returned to her own work that was laid out in front of her, preparations for the upcoming gauntlet. Maybe she could take part using her tome she thought while reviewing her current roster.

Anna picked up a stack of correspondents she planned to sort with Alfonse that evening. Official updates and orders that she and Alfonse had received from the capital while they were packing up the Order’s encampment on the coast. A letter that had been carelessly sticking out of the stack caught a breeze while Anna walked by, falling to the ground unbeknownst to her.

Reaching down the retrieve the paper, Kiran broke the silence of the tent, “Oh, you dropped this Anna.” She announced, glancing at the letter and noticing the Askran High Tower’s seal and a few names she recognized from the Order, “Wait, what is this?”

Anna turned, wiping her forehead with the back of her sleeve after dropping the heavy pile of paperwork onto her desk. She looked over to Kiran and realized what the summoner was holding, turning deathly pale. “It’s nothing!” the commander gasped, moving in to take the letter Kiran held, “Give it to me!”

Kiran ignored Anna, keeping the paper from the commander’s grasp. She read the letter once, twice, three times, trying to make sense of what she was reading. Her captain, her teammates, the friends that she had spent the spring hunting down the Nøkken in Sem were released last week after being imprisoned by the royal guard. Kiran was baffled, she had no idea this all happened while she was here on the coast. She looked back at Anna, “How come I didn’t know about this?”

“You weren’t supposed to find out this way…” Anna quietly said, dodging the question entirely and exchanging worried glances with Soren.

Looking at the quiet mage who sat across from her, “You knew about this too?” Kiran demanded, waving the letter she held. Soren continued to stay silent, pulling at his sleeve nervously, the typically cold mage tried desperately to hide his emotions, trying not to make eye contact with the summoner. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, struggling to understand why her friends would keep this information from her.

“Soren wanted to tell you.” Alfonse intervened, having entered the tent upon hearing the commotion, “Trust me, he tried many times, however, I had all correspondents about the matter intercepted.” He told her, taking the letter from Kiran’s hand. “Can you two excuse us.” The young prince asked, reading over the letter and folding it slowing. He stood patiently, waiting for Anna and Soren to leave before he continued. “I had not planned to inform you of this until we were back home Kiran, but I can ensure you that everything is fine.” Alfonse tossed the folded letter back to the desk in front of her, “Captain Cherche and your other teammates have their freedom again. They were all aware of what they were getting into before they agreed to the plan we put in motion.”

“Plan?” Kiran questioned, squinting her eyes and looking up at him, “What plan?”

“When I received word of the dragonstone you found in Sem, I knew the royal council would demand an investigation. Cherche agreed to give her teams full cooperation, they had nothing to hide.” Alfonse explained, sauntering over and picking up a small figurine off the strategy table, “But when the council found out about the coin that was exchanged between the captain and the innkeeper, things got a bit out of hand. They wanted to claim Cherche bribed the innkeeper to forget what he and his staff saw the night you found the stone.” He sighed, placing the figurine back on the table, “They were imprisoned until they were deemed not to be a threat to Askr or the royal line.”

“Why didn’t you include me in this plan?” Kiran demanded to know, rising from her chair and approaching the prince. “I found the stone, I should have been there with them.”

“That’s exactly why you didn’t know.” Alfonse told her, his tone was gentle, but firm. “I made sure you were assigned on the summer expedition and sent to the coast. I couldn’t risk you being in the capital in case something went wrong.” He explained, shaking his head. “This stone was just a reminder that the Order isn’t safe, even in Askr.” Alfonse stopped, it was clear that what had happened had been weighing heavily on his mind. “I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if someone had seen this as an opportunity to have you removed. I can’t lose you.”

“Now what am I going to tell them on my next mission?” Kiran scoffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, “ _Thanks guys for taking the dive for me? Sorry, I couldn’t be there to help_!” she sarcastically added, concerned about how the heroes would see this as special treatment. Turning her back to Alfonse she returned her attention to the roster she had been working on. “How are they supposed to accept me as one of their own if I don’t share their hardships?” she pouted.

“There’s not going to be a next mission.” Alfonse leaned against the strategy table behind him. “I’m having you reassigned. You won’t be fighting alongside captain Cherche or any other heroes anymore. I was a fool to let you go in the first place.”

“What!?” Kiran’s eyes widened and she turned quickly back to Alfonse, “Why!?”

“You had your chance to prove you could use Breidablik in battle. On your own.” he pressed his lips together, and shrugged his shoulders, “And you can’t.”

Kiran had kept what happened in the vortex with little Tiki quiet and she wasn’t going to tell anyone she had unleashed Breidablik’s magic on her own. It was far too dangerous to be used on the field, the pure destructive power scared her. “It doesn’t matter; I can use my tome! I have been using Stone just fine!” Kiran pushed back, she could feel her face flushing.

“It’s not enough.” Alfonse bluntly said, his warm demeanor cooling, “And I’ll be damned if I stand by and watch you kill yourself because you’re too stubborn to back down and accept your place here only as a tactician. The only time you will be on the frontline is if you are at my side. End of story.” He looked away, sighing before he continued, attempting to soften the bad news, “Look Kiran it’s not going to be that bad, you will still be able to work in the field. I’m assigning you to the Exploration and Acquisition Division, researching and locating antiquities. It will be safer and you won’t be gone from the capital for long periods of time. You like that sort of stuff, in fact, you’re good at it!”

“Don’t I get a say in this, this isn’t fair!” She pleaded with the prince, Kiran had not worked so hard these past few months just to end up stuck in a library all day.

“No one promised our lives would be.” He pushed himself away from the table, approaching Kiran and taking hold of her shoulders, “You and I are not like the others. We can’t run off and take stupid risks.” Alfonse’s tone was serious and his face tense while he stared down at the summoner. He squeezed her arms tighter, a reminder of how much physically stronger he was and the damage he could do if he chose to display his full power. “You have to stop acting like you’re invincible, neither of us are. We need to start looking at the bigger picture here.”

Shaking her head, Kiran pulled herself from his grasp and turned away. She was determined to continue to fight, to see her goals through. “You can’t stop me from joining the other heroes; you don’t have the right-”

“I have every right!” He cut her off, even in frustration Alfonse rarely raised his voice, and this stopped Kiran in her path, causing a tightening in her chest. “As long as you are in possession of Breidablik your life is not your own, you have obligations to the Order. Just like I do to the people of Askr.”

“And if I refuse to stop?” Kiran quietly asked, not ready to give-in.

“Kiran, I’m not asking you as your friend.” Alfonse coldly told her, “I’m commanding you as your prince and there will be consequences if you can’t follow my orders. Do you understand that?”

The once sweet and gentle young man that Kiran met upon arriving to Askr was gone. Reality and age had snuffed out the sense of wonder and adventure that had brought them so close together. Alfonse now stood behind her, waiting for her response, while she quietly stared at the candles on the desk, mourning what they once had.

“Tell me you understand.” Alfonse demanded, reaching for her hand, his touch as cold as his words. “I want to hear you say it.”

“I understand.” She mumbled, pulling her hand away and quickly wiping the tears away that ran down her cheeks before facing him, “You’ve made yourself crystal clear, _your Highness_.” Kiran sneered before she stormed out of the tent into the cool darkness of the night.

“Kiran, come on.” Alfonse called out as she left that tent, “ _Kiran!”_

She knew he wouldn’t chase after her, besides he got what he wanted and there was nothing she could do about it. They had had their disagreements in the past, over small things like tactics and training styles, but this was different. He was trying to control her and as much as it hurt, it mostly made her angry. _How can a stupid rock cause so much trouble?_ She thought, marching along the path between the tents, _I should have pulled_ Breidablik _out and shown him what it really can do, blast that smug look off his face…_

Kiran gasped, shocked at her own thoughts, and a shiver ran up her spine. _Why would I think of doing such a thing?_ She felt more tears trickle down her cheeks, they followed the itchy trail left behind by earlier ones. Kiran wiped her face again with the back of her hand and quickly pushed the door flap to the side, entering the warm glow of her own tent. She noticed Ranulf with his back turned away from the entrance. packing away a few odds and ends away so they would be ready to leave in the morning. He was humming a lively tune, and his ear twitched, he didn’t need to look to know it was her standing behind him.

“Hey! Look what I found…” Ranulf cheerfully said before he turned to greet her, his smile dropping away when he saw the unsettled summoner, “Whoa, what happened?”

Kiran tossed her coat to the side, and sat on the edge of her cot, her fingers dug into the sides of the mattress. “How soon can we move into Fljót house?”

“Well, I mean there’s a couple items that still need to be installed. Hot water, illumination, but I can get a hold of the Alchemist Guild once we get back.” Ranulf explained, taking a seat in his own cot across from hers. “It will be a bit like camping until they get there, but it’s livable.”

“Good.” Kiran nodded, looking into his concerned eyes, “I’m packing my stuff up as soon as we get back. I refuse to spend another night in that castle.”

End.


End file.
